HMS Failboat: post about your nautical disasters here!

Ahoy there, fellow skippers! One common feature of RC modeling forums is the crash thread. This is where pilots post stories and photos of their assorted disasters, from scratched paint and belly landings to wing crunchers and full-throttle nosedives. Such threads can grow to contain hours of EPIC FAIL fun, but our own forum is sadly lacking. Until today. I officially proclaim the HMS FAILBOAT Nautical Disasters thread open!
I'll go first. I have had many HMS Failboat moments in my otherwise illustrious career as an RC naval combat skipper. From simple pump failures and running over friendly transports to setting sail with unpatched rips and sinking because I reloaded, I have discovered many ways to end up six feet under. But in all that time, nothing can quite compare with the EPIC FAIL that was the WWCC's Campaign Game of 2004.

It was 2004, and I was a bright-eyed rookie with his first warship. I had just completed DKM Scharnhorst, a WWII German battleship, in time for the WWCC's first Annual Campaign Game. A Campaign Game in the WWCC is a two-hour-long team based battle, split purely along Axis-Allied lines. The 2004 Campaign Game drew more than 20 skippers from all along the west coast, some traveling up to 800 miles to attend. Axis and Allied strategists were planning and building for months before the battle, and I was to be the 3rd ship in the Axis Fast Battleship squadron. I had just finished hooking up the last few components at midnight the night before the battle (uh-oh), including a large 12v air compressor to power the guns, so I did not have time for sea trials beforehand. Since most ships use paintball CO2 systems, my air compressor was a risky experiment. If it worked, I would never run out of gas as long as my massive array of batteries held out. If it didn't, well... just keep reading

Commence Fire was called, and both teams began massing their fleets outside their respective harbors. I sailed about ten feet from the Axis port, parked next to the WWI German battleship Baden of Skipper X, then powered up my air compressor for the first time. The flimsy on/off switch melted from the 12v, 12A current draw, and started sparking and spitting out huge amounts of radio noise. Both my Scharnhorst and Skipper X's Baden immediately started twitching crazily, and then their receivers shut down. Chatter-chatter-twitch-twitch-dead. No radio control whatsoever:cry: Just two battleships, drifting slowly away from port. Then the Allied fleet showed up. Two Iowa-class, a Richelieu-class, a Nelson, a South Dakota that's three days older than I am, a Warspite, and a Normandie steamed by in a long, graceful line, firing all the time They went easy on rookie me, choosing instead to concentrate fire on the stricken Baden. Long story short, several minutes later Baden sank while my Scharnhorst drifted to the downwind side of the pond, far beyond the attention of the Allied fleet. It doesn't end there, however. Oh no

In the months leading up to the Campaign Game, Skipper X came up with an idea for a hand-thrown marker float, to mark the location of a sunken ship in case the sunken ship's own emergency float failed to deploy. I made several of these hand-thrown floats, so I was prepared when Skipper X's Baden sank and its float failed to deploy A small lead weight arched out, trailing a string and a small chunk of foam, and landed right next to the bubbles from the sunken battleship. Then Skipper X went and got his other warship, the WWI German battlecruiser Lutzow, so he could rejoin the fight. Lutzow sallied forth to engage the enemy a mere 15 minutes after the battle began. Only to stop 20 feet from port, her props tangled by the hand-thrown float marking the wreck of the Baden An Allied scout notified their fleet, and soon a line of Allied battleships paraded past, firing like the Fourth of July, and down went the Lutzow. Fortunately her float deployed

Then along came Skipper Y with his battlecruiser Derfflinger. He was being chased by several Allied battleships, and the whole group of them sailed right through the danger zone :blink: Derfflinger unfortunately sailed right over Lutzow's float line, and got just as badly tangled as Lutzow had been inch: In came the Allied fleet, and a third WWI German capital ship got added to what was already being called "balsa-bottom sound".

The Baden was recovered and repaired, and battled throughout 2005 and 2006. She was then sold to new member Stephen Morgret, who outfitted her with an experimental computer fire control. Her superstructure was disintegrated at the 2009 North American Big Gun Open's Texas Cage Match event, and the hull and hardware have been retired. I never told Skipper X why the Baden shut down then. To this day, he still thinks it was due to faulty wiring on his part, and he never noticed that my Scharnhorst shut down at the same time. A number of Allied skippers did notice, however. They said I was welcome to sail for the Axis any time. My Scharnhorst survived the battle afloat. The next month, she returned to action with a 20oz CO2 bottle in place of the compressor. She fought throughout 2005, then was traded for Spahkreuzer SP-1 while I went to college. She now resides in another skipper's basement, and hasn't seen action since 2005. Lutzow battled during 2005 and 2006, then was sold to a skipper in another club, where her old, poorly-constructed guns exploded. I believe the ship has been repaired and still actively battles. Derfflinger has not battled since that fateful day in 2004. She currently resides in a garage in Oregon, still wearing some of the weeds that shrouded her in Davey Jones' Locker.
Whew. There, I said it. I just told my most embarrassing RCNC story ever. Now all you folks who read this story have to tell your own. If you do not tell your failboat stories, I will curse you to sink in horribly embarrassing ways until you tell about them

 

Hmph. DKM Failboat seems more appropriate.

 

While my story is in now way on the same level of FAIL as Kotori's, it does involve the failings of my brand new never been tested USS Des Moines at the 2nd annual Bruhaha regional down in La. Having built my first ship in relative solitude and only having tested out the rudder and motors, I endeavored to show the veterans that not all newbs were first time fails. In my defense, the only system that didn't work that I didn't know about before hand was the triple stern guns. Fortunately a fellow allied captain spotted the issue and I corrected it before my first battle. The FAIL occurred the night before when i relied on an EVIL AXIS captain (who shall remain nameless...lurch!) to help me solder together my batteries for which I had had no luck previously. So on the second sorty (the USS Des Moines first EVER time in the water) my poor ship goes dead in the water. To further exacerbate the situation, the same EVIL AXIS captain who helped (sabotaged) solder batteries the night before sailed up next to my stricken dreams and proceeded to show me his newly configured bow side mount...needless to say my beautiful boat slipped beneath the waves. This of course taught me a couple very valuable lessons.
1) if your boat goes dead, only whisper while calling 5
2) if one must have an AXIS captain help always second check said help with fellow Allied compatriots
3) your ship will sink...period at some point....just get wet, repair and take revenge!
To be honest, I found out later that the batteries were shoddy so it wasn't really the EVIL AXIS captains fault....not to say he wouldn't have done it if he had thought about it...Just kidding Lurch. You've been one of the biggest helps to me. Thanks!
Okay so there is my Fail. Who is up next?

 

Muwhahaha... it was the HAYMAKER!!! If only it were the bow sidemount.. .sigh. It was one of my greatest video moments ever.. I wept...

You must call out 5 and take your punishment... of course you can always declare sunk to avoid damage, we had a lot of that at the brouhaha this year.

Hey the two times they got me really good it was FEATURED on youtube... so yea.

I will post up a story later... crawdaddys and scrimpys are calling me...

Oh and Ralphie-Boy.. I am waiting for that revenge... come and get some!

 

A tale of success, and ultimate fail.
I was in Sydney, happily sailing my venerable HMS Rodney, harrassing merchants, attacking anything that went past and generally running amuck.
Then I made an error, and fired on Richard Simpson's IOWA.
Ooops.
Richard , as he will, took up the challenge and we proceeded to pound each other at point blank range.
Seeing the hull of my ship getting shredded, I turned for shore, hoping to present my stern to his Iowa, hoping it couldn't superfire, hoping I would at least sink somewhere accessible from shore.
Then it happened. Richard tried to stop me making shore, we hit and both his bow and mine embedded themselves into the bank.
Right in the best position for my guns to rake his bow.
Which I then proceeded to do.
The Iowa was full astern, returning fire, but not able to depress far enough to hit me in the red. Rodney had just enough angle and depression to hit Iowas waterline with two or three nine-gun salvos before Iowa broke free.
Rodney was still stuck, but slowly breaking free as Iowa recovered from her burst of full astern, and moved forwards to attack. Her bow suddenly dropped, and she drove herself under.
I couldn't believe it.
I had sunk Richard.
No way.
Then the fail.
I was so chuffed, that even though pumping heavily, I tried a victory lap around Iowa's float.
Bad move.
Rodney slowed, her stern dipped and she went down like a rock.
I'd mined myself on Iowa's float line, and winched myself under.

 

Epic failboats, everyone. Truly epic. I think I'll share another one. Technically this one is Eric's (Gascan's) but since he's off at navy boot camp he can't object.

It was the Last Man Standing of 2009. An unusually large proportion of boats competing had just been launched that year. Included in that number were Gascan's SMS Tegetthoff, and Admiral Ben's transport USS Neosho. The third ship in the story, USS Juneau, had been battling for several years under the excellent care of Captain George.
Now some may think it silly to enter an unarmed transport in a battle that only ends when everyone is sunk. But valiant little Neosho more than earned her keep this time. The first 15-minute round of the LMS started off as expected, with a furious storm of steel flying every which way. In the middle was USS Neosho, sailing in large, stately circles. Everyone took a few potshots at her as she sailed by, but she was soon done in by a loose tamiya connector. Without power for motors or pumps, and less than an inch of freeboard, she very quickly wound up on the bottom. Normally a sunken ship is the end of the story, but in this case it was only the beginning. For up from the depths came a deadly lure: Neosho's recovery float. Gascan's Tegetthoff was the unlucky victim, who soon was completely immobilized in the middle of a raging gunfight. Fortunately for Gascan, most skippers dismissed his entangled ship as a non-threat. But Captain George knew that if Tegetthoff survived the 15-minute round, it could be pulled and untangled from the float line. So in came George's USS Juneau, torpedoes loaded for "battleship". As often happens to those who attack entangled victims, the would-be attacker became a victim himself. Juneau got stuck to Tegetthoff by less than a foot of line. George fired his torpedoes anyway, and only realized after Tegetthoff started pumping that a sunk Tegetthoff would mean a sunk Juneau, as well.
Fortunately for both of them, Tegetthoff's pumps spat out a steady stream of water and kept them both afloat for the last few minutes of the round. Then came the 15-minute break, for recovery, re-arming, and re-gassing. I was the designated recoverer that day, so out I went to recover the ships. Eric figured the thin trickle of water coming from his pumps wouldn't be any danger, and he wanted to save his battery power for later rounds, so he turned off his pumps once I entered the water. There's no harm in having a little water in the bilges, right? Unfortunately for Eric, my first priority was my own SMS Prinz Eugen, which was pumping at nearly full capacity on the other side of the bay. I bypassed the ships in no danger of sinking in order to get the ones that were in danger. First my ship, then another battleship disabled in weeds, and then I turned around to get the Unfortunate Pair. Just in time to see Tegetthoff's bow vanish beneath the waves. At the same time, Juneau's stern was geting pulled under, and her bow lifted at a crazy angle. Then she too slid down backwards, fighting all the way. When I got to them, the three ships were easy to find. Tegettoff and Neosho were laying side by side in about four and a half feet of water. Juneau, buoyed by her massive foam superstructure, was pointing straight up, as though she could break free and dash for the surface at any moment. The whole mess was so badly tangled that it took three people to retrieve them. The Combat Director even had to grant a 5-minute extension on the 15-minute break in order to complete the salvage operation.

 

I to have a Epic Fail. Mine was on my first battle ever. It was with my Wichita. A little back ground first. I had bought a Brooklyn kit from Swampy way back in 93' or 94' Promptly built her and then had a job and location change. I became a over the road truck dirver. Now jump ahead to 2007, I went to a Port Polar Bear monthly battle and was hooked all over again. I decided at that time to rebuild the Brooklyn into the Wichita. Just to be different.

Now during the winter of 07'-08' I did a complete rebuild from a bare hull. During building, I thought (WRONGLY) that having 90 degree of rudder throw was a great ideal.

Enter the first PPB battle in April. I quickly discovered that if I put the rudder hard over she would stop dead cold. AKA a bad thing for this crew. Also I have my pump rigged up on a switch. During the heat of battle I forgot which way to throw the swtich. Now enter the rookie captain who didn't know how to battle a cruiser. I managed to drive into the fight and some how got my bow facing into the bank. Yes, yes the mistakes are just compounding. Now, I should say they were nice and let me extract my cruiser. But that would not be correct. Most left me alone, expect Tyler. He and his Defflinger pounced on my cruiser like a drunk prom date. It ended with the Wichita going down rather quickly. But,hey right as she slid under, I figured out which way to turn on the pump.

After retriving her from the depths, I discovered another rookie mistake. I never tested the radio box for leaks. I had a small leak and after the second sortie, my radio was glitching real bad.

I quickly figured out the problems and learned. Only to find even more problems. Like just the last time battling, I thought I cleaned out the HMS Marlborough after this winters building. Nope, it was a free for all battle between a Marlborugh, Nagato, Kongo, and the Bike. Pump started out great and by the time I retrieved her from the depths, the pump stream was barely a foot high. I pulled the pump and found a bunch of gunk on the inlet to the pump.

Kim

 

I have a nice epic fail to share...
First year at IRCWCC nats...I'm a rookie with my sodak. I had been battling a yamato most of the week so far (2 days). All little boats looked like German targets to me.
Enter poor Dave Simmons (rookie also) in his cruiser (boston). After sinking every battle so far I was ready to dish out some punishment.
I managed to have a great run on his side...
Then someone on shore said "Hey that was really great. You tore him up. Too bad he is your teammate!"
He sank shortly after that.
Epic fail
I went back to sinking every battle

 

This is not mine epic fail but funny enough to be posted. At CANNATS 9 John Coffil's Scharnhorst was being stalked and pounded by Blair's (forget his last name) Nelson.

Well the Scharnny was looking ready to roll over and sink. Blair decided to go in and finish his prey off for good.

Well Blair got a little too close as one of his sidemounts gets caught uo in the Scharnhorst superstructure.

The Scharnhorst decided to do the death dive and took the Nelson down with him.

Epic Fail

 

Darstardly axis tricks. Doomed to sink, they drag perfectly good allied ships down with them.

 

That is one you could never do if you planned it.

 

Have you been purging your ship yard von Tugboat?

 

I'm waiting for an account of the famous Espana "speed bump" incident........anyone?

 

I-Boats are fine armored cruisers! That is a magnificent murphy fail story though. My HMS Achilles (renamed and undergoing surgery since the DoE class is no longer legal) will have to work hard to match such a magnificent fail. Bloody thing will probably work right the first time just to spite me. A Failed Fail!

 

Tugboat, it sounds like your HMS Failboat story turned out good in the end. I assume all those sorties trying out other boats is what convinced you to go Axis?

 

My own sort of disaster. In my rookie year I was driving the USS South Carolina. I was tracking down the IJN Musashi Well I decided to cut off the bigger ship. It was probably not the smartest thing to do. Well the Moo rammed me in the side and I got stuck on his bow. So here is the moo sailing around with me attached. So the moo had to shake me lose. The fantastic thing was that despite this huge crack in the side of my balsa the South Carolina did not sink but managed to get quickly to shore so I could patch the ram damage.

 

Another one that is pretty amazing!

 

Methinks a few of the posters here haven't shared a story or two of their own yet. Dread Not, my fellow skippers. Tell your story so we all may laugh and learn!